The invisible Karaite (17 images)

The Lithuanian Karaite are a small, Turkic-speaking ethnic group who came to Lithuania from the Crimea, enslaved as bodyguards for Grand Duke Vytautas (Witold) at the end of the 15th century. Originating from Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) in the 8th century, the Lithuanian Karaite are a bizarre offshoot of the Jewish Karaite movement whose cultural and religious lives contain both Judaic and Muslim aspects. With just 250 or so remaining Lithuanian Karaite in Trakai, Vilnius and Panevezys, the...more »

The Lithuanian Karaite are a small, Turkic-speaking ethnic group who came to Lithuania from the Crimea, enslaved as bodyguards for Grand Duke Vytautas (Witold) at the end of the 15th century. Originating from Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) in the 8th century, the Lithuanian Karaite are a bizarre offshoot of the Jewish Karaite movement whose cultural and religious lives contain both Judaic and Muslim aspects. With just 250 or so remaining Lithuanian Karaite in Trakai, Vilnius and Panevezys, the Lithuanian Karaite are on the verge of extinction, a fact that possibly explains why these photographs don't include any Lithuanian Karaite in them.« less